BUTLER, Pa. (EYT/D9) — Coy Martino had only 1 1/3 innings of work to his name coming into his first career start on a frigid and blustery Tuesday afternoon.
The Punxsutawney freshman’s outing had a rocky beginning as he walked three straight batters on 13 pitches.
But he settled down, worked around eight free passes in five innings and helped the Chucks to a 9-2 win over Karns City at Michelle Krill Memorial Field at Historic Pullman Park.
“He’s pretty even keeled out there and he doesn’t get too excited one way or another,” said Punxsutawney coach Mike Dickey. “I thought he did a good job kind of staying within himself when he walked three guys there. His slider was working nicely today and he trusted it — that was his out pitch. He went to that when he needed it. He did a good job.”
Karns City couldn’t take advantage of all those walks, scoring just one run off Martino and that came in the top of the first inning on a fielder’s choice ground by Michael Neff.
The Gremlins had just one hit through six innings — a single by Cole Sherwin in the third.
Karns City has struggled against effectively wild pitchers this season.
“Yeah, and I don’t understand why,” said Karns City coach Josh “Sluggo” Smith. “You know, the ball’s gotta be over the plate, no matter if he’s up, down whatever. We just strung together 29 runs in two games. I don’t know if the weather had something to do with it or the Easter layoff, but we have to come ready to play. We need to have some guys step up and take control of the team.”
Martino said he made an adjustment after his wild first inning.
“I was opening up and not staying closed,” Martino said. “I just had to throw strikes.”
It worked. He struck out six and Karns City could only muster weak contact.
Martino threw 89 pitches and got through five innings, which was a bonus for Dickey and Punxsutawney.
Josh Tyger worked the final two innings for the Chucks.
Punxsy knotted the score at 1-1 in the bottom of the second inning on an error, then took a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the fourth inning on a single by Justin Miller and a groundout by Isaac London.
The Chucks broke the game open with five runs in the bottom of the fifth, keyed by a RBI triple by Zach Dinger, a RBI double by Jake Sikora and two-run single by London.
Neff got the loss, but his defense didn’t help him. Neff lasted 4 1/3 innings and was charged with six runs, but only three were earned.
“We don’t have an electric fastball, strikeout 12 kind of guy,” Smith said. “We have a bunch of guys who throw strikes and put it in play and rely on the defense. You have to have the guys that want to step up and be animals for you.”
Punxsutawney tacked in a run in the bottom of the sixth and Karns City got a pair of hits from Hobie Bartoe and Cole Sherwin to help scratch across another run in the seventh.
Punxsutawney traveled 120 miles round-trip for a home game, which was played amid flurries in the early innings before the sun broke out late.
The Chucks (5-2) have been able to squeeze in a decent amount of games relative to other teams that play on grass fields during this poor-weather spring.
“Well, our field drains better than most,” Dickey said. “And we probably tend to play in worse conditions than most. If you can avoid a four-game week by getting a game in on a less than ideal day like this, absolutely, you want to do that.”
Punxsutawney is only a couple bad bounces away from being 7-0.
“The Brookville game was kind of a giveaway (in a 10-9 loss) and against Williamsport the other day, we had a couple of leads (but ended up losing, 5-4),” Dickey said. “But you’re going to have that in high school baseball.”
Karns City (4-3) is looking for some consistency. The Gremlins’ offense has either piled up runs or struggled mightily so far this season.
In three losses, KC has scored seven runs. In four wins, it has put 40 runs up on the board.
“This is a life lesson,” Smith said. “You’re gonna get pushed around. It’s how you react and how you show up tomorrow at practice. How you take this to heart. I can tell by some of the faces tonight that I might have ruffled some feathers, but that’s part of being a coach. We need someone to step up and be a leader on the field.”
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